Timothy Ansah (1919-2008) was a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

educationist Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...

and politician. He was a member of parliament for the

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Tarkwa has a 2013 settlement population of 34,941 people. Economy Mining Tarkwa is noted as a centre of gold m ...

Aboso Aboso is a town near Tarkwa, and is the capital of Wassa West district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana.

constituency from 1965 to 1966. Prior to entering parliament, he taught in various educational institutions. He was the headmaster for Nsein Senior High School (then Kwame Nkrumah Secondary School) from 1960 to 1974.

Early life and education

Ansah was born on 4 September 1919 at

Axim Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, west of Cape Three Points. Axim has ...

, a town in the Western Region of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. He had his early education at York Hall School in Axim. He later proceeded to Wesley College,

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school wa ...

and King's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he pursued a bachelor's degree program in History and pursued a post graduate course in Diploma of Education. He won his

Cambridge Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

as an athlete for the Cambridge University competing against athletes from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

for three years.

Career and politics

Ansah returned to Ghana in 1950 and took up a teaching appointment at his alma mater; Wesley College. There, he taught Music and History. He later moved to

Fijai Secondary School Fijai Senior High School, formerly Fijai Secondary School, is a co-educational senior high school located in the Western Region of Ghana. The name Fijai is from the native dialect "Afei Gyae Me", which literally means "Now, leave me alone". H ...

and in January 1957 he was appointed the assistant headmaster of the School. He served in that capacity until 1960 when he was appointed headmaster for the Kwame Nkrumah Secondary School (was later Axim Secondary but now Nsein Senior High School). He entered parliament in June 1965 representing the

Aboso Aboso is a town near Tarkwa, and is the capital of Wassa West district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana.

constituency on the ticket of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...

. He remained in parliament until February 1966 when the

Nkrumah government Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister and first President of Ghana. Nkrumah had run governments under the supervision of the British government through Charles Arden-Clarke, the Governor-General. His first government under colonial r ...

was overthrown. He remained headmaster of Nsein Senior High School until 1974.

Personal life

His hobbies included listening to music, writing songs and African studies. He composed Ghanaian patriotic songs such as ''Momoane Beyennzo'' in Nzema and ''Dzin Pa Sen Ahonya''. He also participated in the contest for the selection of the National Anthem. He died on Sunday, 22 June 2008.

Legacy

The Timothy Ansah Memorial Foundation Scholarships, a scholarship offered to students from the Western Region is named is his honour. Nsein Senior High School hold the Timothy Ansah Lectures annually in his honour.

Books

''Kundum: festival of the Nzemas and Ahantas of the Western Region of Ghana'' (1999):

References